Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Do iOS synths sound 'duller' compared to desktop VTS's?
First: I love the synths I have on my compact and portable iPad but for what I remember, my VST's on my Mac sound better: richer, more dynamic..
When I compare Massive, Dune 2, Spire, Serum to my iPad synths like Zeeon, iSEM, Kauldron, SynthMaster One.. I dunno.. they tend to sound less rich in sound, dynamic range.. the sound 'duller'.
I suspect that the reason is the 2gb of memory and slow processor of iPads that puts a limit in the 'oversampling' that determines the quality of sound.
Do any of you notice this as well?
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Hmm. I'd describe most of them as "thin" rather than "dull". I think Zeeon is better than a lot of desktop VSTs, which is amazing for the money. And Model D (a CPU hungry beast) is at least as rich sounding to me as some of the ones you listed. A couple of KORG apps rank as well. Since I use an iPhone, I haven't tried Synthmaster on the iPhone vs PC yet.
Bit meaningless unless you compare the same synths on the 2 platforms really
Not my feeling too, Zeeon and Lorentz for example sounds really as rich as some nice VST synths in my experience.
I'm also curious to compare these sounds to dedicated hardware synthesizers. Is there a significant difference?
Hell yah. If we lumped all the VSTs on one side of the room and all the iOS synths on the other side of the room, averaged it all out, weighted by popularity on either platform (carry the y and cross the x) no contest. Technical constraints aside we are also talking a staggering difference in development budgets for the core synth / sound engine and the libraries as well.
In my opinion, I think the ultimate test would be to compare the preset sounds between the Synthmaster One AU app and its PC/Mac vst counterpart. This would determine any sound discrepancies between the two platforms.
Since I don't own the vst version, someone else may have to help with that.
To me Synthmaster One is the best sound engine on iOS right now. Also we can tweak the oversampling rate, and when played solo my admittedly placebo prone ears can totaly tell a real difference.
Most VST Synths simply pretend to sound great by a huge number of effects included in the patch.
To compare synth quality listen to just oscillator, envelope and filter (for the VA type), turn off delay, chorus, flanger, reverb, etc.
Not all synths are created equal, but IOS has no technical obstacles for writing great audio processing routines. Moog, PPG, Apesoft/Amazing Noises, Tenacious Frog, Imaginando and some others deliver an audible proof for the system's capabilities.
Yah good point. I do find hooking up dedicated eq/fx can really make things shine. Kleverb and Fac or Emo Chorus continue to amaze me at awakening old crusty synths.
No
This whole discussion doesn’t address the digital to audio conversion of the headphone output jack on iOS devices versus a laptop headphone output jack, versus an audio interface. In general a laptop will have better amplification out of the headphone jack. A digital headphone amp sounds better than the regular headphone jack on iOS devices. The impedance of your headphones on an iOS device with its lower power output can make a significant difference which can certainly make even the same digital audio source sound more dull.
Unless you control for these issues in addition to the ones mentioned above, you won’t have a good comparison of iOS versus other OS synths.
We already know that some developers port the exact same code into their AU synths while others need to scale them down due to the reduced processing power of iOS devices (e.g. Reason Compact versus Europa synth in Reason). Sometimes this scaled down functionality takes the form of a reduced numbers of voices, oscillators, and/or over sampling.
I think the very best compete just fine (Moogs, Zeeon, PPG, a couple others). I collaborate with a guy who uses desktop synths and every time I hear his synth tracks, I never feel like I'm working with inferior goods.
I'm with Telefunky in that the only real way to be the judge for yourself is to turn off all the effects and listen to the pure oscillators and then the filter. Anything can sound good with the right effects, even just a good quality delay is often enough to take a synth from boring to useable.
Well. I only have 2 hardware synths. One is an old VA i use mostly as a MIDI controller with a really nice keybed (Ultranova), and I'd say that some iOS synths are easily as good at this point (but a lot harder to play than a real keyboard!). The other is an analog monosynth (Roland SE-02 + Ext Box) and... hmm. Maybe the Moog D app could compete. I'll have to try it (plus DRC, Volt, KORG MonoPoly and Arp).
But comparing only single oscillators is definitely limiting, especially on a hardware unit designed to use 2 or 3 oscs for it's "sound".
Tricky to compare as I could route it through the Ext Box or straight into the Focusrite 6i6 - but then I'd be relying on the dongle DAC. I guess the most fair would be to compare the SE-02 using the USB direct, bypassing the Focusrite and then also get digital in from my iPhone via the MBP digital in. No effects.
you cannot compare analog synth with app :-)) And specially SE-02 which is soumding really great (i have one too
. Even on desktop there is not much plugins which can be compared to raw analog sound of SE-02 :-))
+1 two of my fav synths.
The only difference between the platforms would be caused by compilers, because we run identical code on windows, macos and ios (and hopefuly android next year!)
+1
When recording on the computer, I’ve noticed the iOS synths sound very nice, when using a digital connection to the computer, rather than recording out of the headphone jack.
That's because the headphone jack is quite poor compared to most proper DACs and soundcards
I noticed the same thing with Studiomux, and I suppose this is similar with iConnectivity audio interfaces which stream the iOS device audio directly in the laptop/desktop.
When I get a $5-10 synth that inspires me it makes my week.
I know there are $50-100 synths I could get for my MacBook but the iPad sits perfectly on my keyboard like a sheet of music and the cables to run it out to my speakers are nice.
These are the tradeoffs that push me to keep buying IOS apps to the max of my budget:
I agree. However, some of those, on richer patches, use 30% of the iPads power. And my workflow isnt amenable to freezing etc.
So I tend to stick to really efficient ones, like the Icegear ones. I do think these sound a bit dull compared to my vst and hardware synths...IF I am trying to get the same vintage analog sounds. So I just use those for their own unique strengths. Some of the noise options on those, or the resonator features, those are as good to me as any vsts
And even for those classic analog sounds I will still use them for less in your face duties. I think the difference in quality, for elements less prominent in the mix isnt that important frankly.
Somebody's giving the Android platform some love?! 😱 Colour me shocked, lol. If you think adapting all of Apple's screen sizes was a pain in the arse, good luck with Android. Cheers.
Absolutely. The CPU, being confined to such a narrow, cramped space, has much less space for good acoustics. Obviously it’s going to sound duller!
interesting to read your opnions.. I'm just not that impressed with the sounds as > @brambos said:
Well, interesting to read your opinions.. Thanx people..
I'll install my VST synths on my Mac again to compare the sound... I deleted them in order to let me focus on producing with my new iPad...
No, if you use the same synths at the same sample rate and hear it on the same device or audio interface. So if i run DRC from iPhone via IDAM into Logic it sounds like DRC mac plug-in.
But you compared different synths which are totally different.
Some desktop synths just offer much more and much better FX on top. F.e. Dune 3 sounds just so polished and thick but also extreme clear if you like.
Comparing the raw sounds makes no sense anyway if a synth comes with FX. Where does it starts and ends. Synths like Model D sounds also very good without FX but there is always a saturation added, even without FX.
There are awesome synths for iOS but there is nothing which can sound as great as a complex Dune 3 preset f.e.
Alchemy is still king on iOS for this.
Zeeon, Model D, DRC etc. are all good and compete with it‘s raw sound with high end emulations like U-he‘s Repro, Diva etc. but they mainly lack the same quality FX or just having 1 or 2 which you can‘t modulate.
Also think about that you not only compared different synths but also totally different presets.
I think most iOS synths can sound as good as most desktop synths in general but it might need a bit more tweaking or presets from Brice Beasley (in my opinion the best sound designer in the iOS world)
F.e. a promo video of Dune 3. Of course it‘s a real pro showing it but it’s quite hard to get such a „broadcast ready“ sound out of the box from just 1 iOS synth without a lot more work and extern FX etc.
I say sample that sweet sweet VST goodness for BM3 and NS2. Yum!